{"id":122742,"date":"2026-09-04T10:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T05:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=122742"},"modified":"2026-09-04T10:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T05:21:10","slug":"marine-fish-resources-in-india-valuing-ocean-wealth-and-the-blue-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/marine-fish-resources-in-india-valuing-ocean-wealth-and-the-blue-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine Fish Resources in India: Valuing Ocean Wealth and the Blue Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Marine Fish Resources in India Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has launched an unusual and significant experiment \u2014 assigning a monetary value to the country&#8217;s marine fish stocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This move, aimed at measuring the wealth hidden in India&#8217;s oceans, could reshape how the country accounts for its natural resources and manages its blue economy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What Is MoSPI Trying to Do?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MoSPI has released a concept paper titled <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8216;Methodological Approach for Compilation of Experimental Monetary Asset Accounts of Marine Fish Resources&#8217;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is based on the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) \u2014 a global framework that links environmental data with economic accounts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The basic idea is simple: fish in the sea are a natural capital asset. When fish are caught, this represents a flow of economic benefit drawn from that asset \u2014 much like income generated from any other resource.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By valuing this properly, India can track whether its fish wealth is growing, shrinking, or staying stable over time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why Fisheries Matter to India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fishing is a cornerstone of India&#8217;s blue economy:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is the <\/span><b>second-largest<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fish producer in the world, accounting for 8% of global production.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Total fish production in FY25 was 19.77 million metric tonnes (MMT) \u2014 77% from inland sources and 23% from marine sources.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sector contributed an estimated \u20b91.76 lakh crore, or <\/span><b>1.09% of national GVA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in 2023-24.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marine fish production rose from 34.43 lakh tonnes (2013-14) to 46.15 lakh tonnes (2024-25).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fisheries support nearly 30 million livelihoods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over <\/span><b>350 varieties<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of marine products reach <\/span><b>130 countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; FY25 exports stood at 1.7 MMT worth \u20b962,408.45 crore, growing 3.11% annually in volume.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these impressive numbers, raw production data has a blind spot: it doesn&#8217;t reveal whether individual fish species or regional stocks can sustain similar output in the future, or how fishing pressure and climate change are affecting them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Joining a Select Global Club<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If successful, India would join a small group of countries \u2014 <\/span><b>Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, the UK, France, the US, and New Zealand<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 that have attempted to bring ocean wealth into their national accounts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The OECD notes that only a handful of countries currently compile monetary accounts for aquatic resources, unlike more mature accounting fields like forests or minerals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even the global guidance framework (SEEA-Fisheries) is considered somewhat outdated.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has been building environmental accounts since <\/span><b>2018<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through its <\/span><b>EnviStats India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> programme, covering land, water, forests, minerals and pollination.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it still lacks a regular, comprehensive &#8220;blue economy GDP&#8221; series \u2014 though current estimates suggest the blue economy contributes around <\/span><b>4% of India&#8217;s GDP<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Bigger Push Behind Blue Economy<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government&#8217;s commitment is reflected in budget allocations: the latest Union Budget earmarked a record \u20b92,761.8 crore for the sector, with the Pr<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/pm-matsya-sampada-yojana\/\" target=\"_blank\">adhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)<\/a><\/strong> receiving \u20b92,500 crore for 2026-27 as its central pillar.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s strengths in this space are considerable:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A coastline of about 11,100 km;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/eez\/\" target=\"_blank\">Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)<\/a><\/strong> spanning over 2 million sq km;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rich marine biodiversity, supporting India&#8217;s ambition of a $100-billion blue economy by 2030.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, ocean space isn&#8217;t used by fisheries alone \u2014 it&#8217;s shared with ports, tourism, offshore energy, and coastal development.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proper accounting can make trade-offs between these competing uses more transparent, and help decide whether India should invest in more fishing capacity, stock restoration, or deep-sea fisheries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notably, NITI Aayog estimates <\/span><b>India&#8217;s EEZ resource potential at around 7.16 MMT<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while cautioning that some deep-sea resources remain vulnerable to overexploitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How Will the Valuation Actually Work?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The accounting process involves a few clear steps:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Identify important species<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 selecting commercially, economically, or ecologically significant marine fish stocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Assess stock health<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 using ten years of species-wise landing data as a proxy to check whether a stock is regenerating, stable, or depleting, by comparing current landings to historical peaks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Estimate &#8220;asset life&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 how long a resource can keep generating value, linking fisheries science with economics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Calculate resource rent<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 the income attributable purely to the natural resource, after deducting labour costs, operating expenses, depreciation, and normal returns on fishing vessels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Project future value<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 expected future resource rents are projected over the stock&#8217;s asset life and discounted at a proposed <\/span><b>2% real rate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to estimate present value.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The final output is a <\/span><b>marine fish asset account<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a record combining both physical condition and economic value of fish stocks.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike simple annual catch figures, this account shows whether the resource base supporting future fishing income is being maintained, depleted, or regenerated.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s worth noting this remains an <\/span><b>experimental estimate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, built largely on proxy methods due to existing data limitations in the marine fisheries sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s blue economy stands at an important crossroads \u2014 balancing genuine opportunities for growth against the responsibility of sustainable resource use.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The exercise should not become mere &#8220;statistical spectacle.&#8221; Its real value will be judged by whether it leads to better catch limits, more sustainable harvesting practices, stronger coastal livelihoods, and a clearer national picture of how ocean wealth is changing over time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/indias-plan-to-begin-natural-capital-and-climate-risk-accounting-explained\/article71409872.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marine fish resources in India are being given monetary value to improve blue economy accounting, assess stock health and promote sustainable ocean management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":122754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,9999,22,59],"class_list":["post-122742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-marine-fish-resources-in-india","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122742"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122761,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122742\/revisions\/122761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}